Waste
by Alexandria-Scarlett
Summary: Astraea Michaels lived a sheltered life When Bella Swan comes to town things change. Astrea piques the interest of one Ronan Cullen. Will the mysterious bad boy be able to protect his mate or will things go up in flames... quite literally.


I sigh and tie my apron around my waist and take my place behind the counter. I tie my hair back and look up as someone sits in front of me. I feel my face light up at the familiar face.

"Chief Swan!" I say, "The usual?"

"Hello, Rae!" He responds. "Not today, Just a burger will do and please call me Charlie."

I nod and write up the ticket before pouring him some water.

"What's with the change of order?" I ask

"Gotta eat it in the car. I'm picking up Bella from the airport in an hour and a half."

I humm in acknowledgement as I polish the beer glasses. I vaguely remember Bella, I'd run into her and Chief Swan at the store over the summer.

"That's exciting!" I say after a while, "How long is she staying this time?"

"Not sure, Hopefully until graduation. Renee is going on tour with her new husband."

"Is he a musician?"

"No." He responds, "A minor league baseball player."

"That's even worse!" I gasp trying to make light of the situation.

As if on cue, Ernie, the cook, dings the bell announcing Charlie's food is ready. I bring him his food and hand it over with a smile.

"How much longer are you on?" Charlie asks.

"Not sure." I reply, "I'm covering for Cora, she's running late."

He gives me a slight nod and presses a tip into my hand, wishing me a good day. I call a response after him and get back to work cleaning the bar. Soon enough Cora walks in releasing me from my duties. I clock out and start my walk home. I feel as if things are going to change now that Bella's back.

I groan as mother rips open the curtains, letting the sunlight stream in.

"None of that nonsense Astraea, it's unbecoming for a lady to groan." Mother reprimanded, pulling the covers off of me. "Get dressed, call for me when you're ready for your hair."

With that, she floats out of the room. She is very elegant, a telltale trait of a phoenix. It's part of our allure, what draws our mate in. Phoenixes mate for life as we are immortal, though there are exceptions. If we drown we cannot come back, that's what happened to father. I get up and make my way to my closet. I pull out a pleated, blue plaid skirt and a matching sweater. I slide on some grey knee highs and slip on my black flats. I make my way to the bathroom and look at myself in the mirror after calling down to mother. I glance up as she enters and gets to work on my hair.

"Now recite your lines."

"And God made Eve from the rib of Adam and Eve was weak," I began. "And God loosed the raven on the world and the Raven was called sin. To Eden, the raven brought the sin of lust which guided Adam and damned Eve to the devil."

"Good." Mother praised, "Now let's get going otherwise you'll be late."

I glance at myself in the mirror. Half of my blonde hair is held out of my face by a blue ribbon, the rest being left to cascade down my shoulders. I grab my brown bag and make my way to the car. I watch the scenery as we begin our daily, quiet car ride. After what seems like an eternity we pull up in front of the school and I make my way to first period. The day drones by until I approach my favourite class, History. The bell rings and I quickly pack up, weaving my way through the hall. I approached my locker and entered the combination letting a quick greeting as my only friend Angela Webber leans against the locker beside me. I grab my books for History as she starts talking.

"Did you hear?" She begins, "Chief Swan's daughter started today!"

"So soon?" I mused, "Charlie only picked her up from the airport yesterday!"

She nodded as we began our walk to class.

"She's going to be our expose for the newspaper!"

"That's wonderful Angela!" I say sincerely, "I'm sure it will do great, This is my stop!"

We give quick goodbyes and I make my way into class and sit down. I glance up as a presence enters the room and spot Ronan Cullen. The Cullens came to Forks two years ago from Alaska, I've never had any interaction with them but there is no denying the looks that they hold. Ronan Cullen has to be the most attractive out of the bunch. His dark brown hair falls over a pair of bright blue eyes. I look away and reprimand myself for these thoughts, mother would have my head if she caught me thinking like this. I tune in as the teacher starts class, talking about world war two.

"World War two gave women a chance to experience work by taking the jobs men abandoned to go to war." Mr Holt began, "Despite having no field action, Women served as a huge support in the war effort."

"Actually, they had a bigger role than that." I interrupted quietly, "The Soviets had an entire female bomber regiment. The Germans nicknamed them 'The Night Witches' because of how stealthy and successful they were."

"Both the US and UK had female spies as well." A voice piped up from behind me.

I glanced back and noticed it was Ronan, he sent me a smile making me blush and turn away. I spent the rest of the class trying to ignore the gaze drilling into my back. I quickly packed up once the bell rang and scurried to my locker. I placed my books inside and stood for a moment letting my heart rate settle. I grabbed my lunch and made my way to the lunchroom where I spotted Angela. I listened to the conversation going on as I sat down.

"Guess we'll just run another editorial on teen drinking," Angela said.

I squeezed her shoulder in support at her disappointment.

"Sorry. There's always eating disorders," An unfamiliar brunette said.

This must be Bella. I recall Angela mentioning that the editorial would be on Bella.

"There's always speedo padding on the swim team." I quietly suggest as I take a bite of my ravioli.

"Wait, that's a good one," Angela said, quickly writing it down.

We all ate in silence until Bella's attention was drawn elsewhere and she piped up.

"Who are they?"

"The Cullens," Angela replied taking a bite of her salad.

I try hard not to look up when Angela says this.

"Doctor and Mrs Cullen's foster Kids," I mumble, focused on my Ravioli.

"They all moved down here from Alaska two years ago," Jessica said

"They kinda keep to themselves," Angela said

"Because they're all together." Jessica continued, "Like, together together."

"Jessica lets not gossip." I said "Its very unbecoming."

"Oh shut it Astraea," Jessica snapped

"It's Rae," I mumbled, looking back down.

Jessica shrugged this off and continued as I looked up to admire the Cullens.

"The blonde girl, Rosalie, and the big dark-haired guy, Emmett. They're a thing. I'm not even sure that's legal."

Rosalie is beautiful and she knows it. She has long blonde hair and a slim figure. She reminds me of an Angel. Emmett is a year younger than me and the perfect complement to Rosalie. He's large with a bodybuilder physique. Despite his large, intimidating aura, he seems very playful.

"Jess, they're not actually related," Angela said

"But they live together." Jessica said Aghast "And the little dark-haired girl, Alice, she's really weird."

I hissed at her for her comment but she just rolled her eyes and continued.

"She's with Jasper, the blonde who looks like he's in pain."

Alice is a year younger than me, she's small and thin with short black hair. She's always very cheery and reminds me of a pixie. Jasper, on the other hand, is usually very melancholy. He, like his twin Rosalie, has blonde hair. He's tall and lean with a sour look on his face. Nonetheless, he's beautiful.

"I mean, Dr Cullen's like this foster dad slash matchmaker," Jessica said

"Maybe he'll adopt me." Angela joked

This causes Bella to laugh and me to frown. It's not nice making jokes about other people, even if they aren't harmful.

"Who are they?" Bella asked, sobering up.

"Ronan and Edward Cullen," Jessica says with a sigh

Edward, like Alice and Emmett, is a year younger than me. He is lanky with messy bronze hair. He's very stoic and mysterious. Ronan is a stark contrast to the rest of the family. Unlike his siblings who all have yellowish-brown eyes, Ronan's are blue. Like in class earlier, his brown hair falls over his eyes in a messy mop. He seems like trouble, the definition of 'Bad Boy'. I notice his eyes are looking into my own and I freeze. I feel a blush cover my face but I can't look away. He gives me a smirk before turning away and sitting down. I look back at my now empty thermos and tune back into my group

"They're totally gorgeous, obviously." Jessica said "But apparently, no one here is good enough for them. Like I care. Anyway, don't waste your time. No matter how Mysterious or Bad they seem."

I make an excuse and scurry to the library to compose myself. I find a corner and collapse on the chair before placing my head in my hands.

"And God made Eve from the rib of Adam and Eve was weak," I mutter. " Eve was weak and God loosed the raven on the world and the Raven was called sin. To Eden, the raven brought the sin of lust which guided Adam and damned Eve to the devil."

Mother was damned to the Devil when she gave in to her lust with father. That's why he died, God was making mother atone for her sins. That's why boys are not allowed.

"And so the sneaky fox cornered the defenceless bunny."

I quickly looked up as a voice spoke from above me. Standing over me is one Ronan Cullen.


End file.
